Ongoing Crackdown

FEARING  the ongoing crackdown from the authorities, residents in the Cameron Highlands believe the foreign workers have fled to the hills to hide. 

Checks by Malay Mail yesterday revealed farms spanning four to five acres were manned by only one or two workers, instead of the previous three or four.

A registered Indonesian farm worker named Suken said he was forced to work on the five acres of his employer’s watercress farm alone after his colleague ran away in fear of the raids.

“He ran away because he heard the authorities were rounding up immigrants whether they have permits or not,” he said.

“I didn’t believe it so I stayed here. But I am scared should they come for me.”

Suken, who has been working in the Cameron Highlands for three years, said he believed foreigners were the employee of choice among farmers because they were willing to work on the farms.

“I earn over RM1,000 a month and I get a place to stay. It is not like we are being treated badly so I am happy to work here,” he said.

Suken refused to reveal where his colleague had gone but his employer Lai Weng Heng, 44, said most of the foreign workers had fled into the forests on the slopes of the hill.

“This only make things worse for us. We are forced to pick and gather the crops ourselves in addition to our other jobs like selling the produce,” Lai said.

“We would hire locals, but they are not interested to work the farms. Some people say we hire foreigners because they are cheap, but we pay them above the minimum wage, so the argument doesn’t hold water.”

The government, had on Sunday, announced it will launch wide-scale operations against illegal immigrants who were allegedly responsible for encroaching about 6,000ha of land in the highlands.